Air Force says goodbye to Schwartz, installs Welsh

The Air Force honored retiring General Norton Schwartz Friday morning at Joint Base Andrews and observed the installation of his successor General Mark Welsh. General Schwartz's retirement brings to a close his career of over 40 years.

Gen. Norton Schwartz bids farewell to his Airmen
while departing from the Pentagon Aug. 8, 2012,
for the final time as the Air Force Chief of
Staff. Schwartz will retire in a ceremony Friday,
after serving 39 years in the Air Force, the last
four years as the Air Force's senior uniformed
leader. (U.S.Air Force photo by Master Sgt.
Cecilio Ricardo)

The Air Force will honor retiring General Norton Schwartz Friday morning at Joint Base Andrews and observe the installation of his successor General Mark Welsh.

Schwartz retires after a career spanning nearly four decades. As he left his office in the Pentagon for the final time Thursday, he was greeted by more than 200 Airmen and civilians who lined the hallways as a tribute, the Air Force reports.

His final year was peppered with problems at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, which has been roiled by accusations that instructors sexually assaulted female recruits, and with pilots reporting a lack of oxygen in the F-22 Raptors, a problem that grounded the planes and has since been tracked to a glitch with the vests pilots wear.

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